I've lived in this tower for many years, with nobody to talk to. At least nobody that could talk back.

I was but a little girl when I was snatched from my father's home and brought here. I don't remember much, only a feeling of solitude, or maybe I think like that because it's the only emotion I really know.

Every day of my life I've stared out this window wondering what's out there, if there's anyone thinking of me; still, I never had any clear wish, because this is the only life I know, so I never knew what to wish for.

Now I know what it was not.
I didn't want this, I never wished to pay this price.

Out of the blue a knight came, in full armor, and attacked my dragon.

Why did he have to do that? The poor beast was sleeping, and he just attacked!

I watched them fight with conflicting emotions. Who was that man? What did he want? Was he here to bring me back home? If so, he could have done that without fighting. If he was able to get in here, he could take me out without waking it.

Was I supposed to cheer for him?
I wasn't, I couldn't, for years this kind beast was my only companion, it brought me food and kept me warm. I don't know how it managed to bring me here, I was too little to remember, but I know it never harmed me.

I understood now something that I had never realised before. I was never alone.

The knight fought fiercely, chuckling eerily every time he managed to hit my friend.

The dragon fought back, but I could tell it was restraining its strength.
It was protecting me, flying away would mean leaving me here at the mercy of this unknown, violent intruder, but fighting back with all its power would have endangered me.

I was holding my breath, watching their every move, while tears fell down my cheeks every time I saw it getting hurt.

The knight's voice was unpleasant, he seemed to find pleasure in hurting my dragon. I never imagined that people like this existed.

I wanted to scream, to tell him to stop, but I didn't know how, I hadn't spoken in so long, if I ever did.

I wanted to move like he was doing, but my legs were different, and never sustained my weight.

All I could do was stay where I was, watching them with horror worrying about what would happen next.

I watched my dragon getting hurt many times, it was clearly exhausted now, and the knight was going to finish its life.

Somehow I could understand what was happening. I had never seen death before, but I understood pain, and something broke inside me.

I raised my hands and then screamed with all I could.
The panting dragon simply turned its head in my direction, but the knight stopped moving, just as I wished.

"What are you doing to me, witch?" he asked angrily, and I wouldn't have known what to say even if I knew the words.

What was I doing to him? I had no idea, I had never done anything like that before.

I moved my hands again, tentatively, but nothing happened. I got distracted by these thoughts and only realised the knight was again moving when I heard my dragon growling.

Alarmed, I raised my eyes from my hands to look at them and fear gripped me once again.

I screamed; only a screeching sound came out of my mouth, but in my head the scream had a clear meaning: "Stay away from my dragon!"

In my heart the words were clear and powerful, and to my surprise the knight was caught by a sudden wind and thrown away from the dragon.

"You really are a witch, the rumours were true. I thought it was nothing more than ignorant blabbering, but I see now why they got rid of you."

Rid of me? What did that mean? And how come I could understand him so well now? What was going on?

The knight looked at the dragon, then he looked at me with disgust in his eyes. "I rather fancied the idea of being called a king, but I changed my mind, I'd rather have nothing to do with you, princess or no princess."

After saying those words, he stood up and left.
I remained still, not making a sound for several seconds, then I felt my skin getting irritated and I wiped the tears off my face.

The dragon was lying still and I feared for his life, so I tried to reach him.
I dragged my body forward using my hands, crawling on the floor, moving slowly but determined not to give up.

"Stop, please, don't tire yourself for me, I only need rest and I will be fine."

I understood those words, not with my ears but with my soul. What once were noises now felt like concepts I could make sense of.

My soul replied.
"I don't want to lose you, if only I could help you in some way..."

I kept crawling, and he moved towards me. Being considerably bigger than I was, it took him only a few movements and he was now laying near me. I threw my arms at him and stayed there for hours, sleeping with him, wishing in my dreams to heal his injuries.

I had never felt so useless in my life.

When I woke up, I saw his big yellow eyes looking at me, and my heart warmed instantly: he was alive!

I didn't even notice when I started thinking of "him" instead of "it", but I didn't care.

Hoping he could really understand me, uncertain as I was that those events had really occurred and it hadn't been just a dream, I let my soul speak to him.
"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry."

"What are you sorry for? You never did anything wrong."

"I wanted to get out and see the world, but I never wanted this to happen."

"I'm glad it did, a few scratches are well worth it. I'm the one who should apologise for keeping you here but it was the only way I could protect you until your nature could awake by itself."

I had a thousand questions, but my priority was clear. I kept hugging him, leaning my head to his scales, wishing he could sense the love in my heart, not wanting to be anywhere else anymore.

"Now you are finally free, your power will help you do what you want, just let it free."

"Free? I don't want to leave you, even if I really could do that I wouldn't want to go anywhere."

"You are Nature's daughter, I can't keep you in here anymore. You can, you must, take your rightful place in the world. When you will finally wear the crown, you'll have the chance to heal the damage done to Nature by the greed of men."

"Crown? Was my father a king?"

The strange noise the dragon made resonated like the most beautiful laugh into my soul. "No, pet, you are Nature's daughter, you were born under a tree, and for a while the plants kept you warm, the insects cleaned you and the animals fed you, until a woman found you and brought you into town. She thought someone abandoned you, but the king who saw you recognised your mark and knew that you were the girl their legends talked about."

"My mark?" I asked.

"My apologies again. I kept you between walls of stone and you don't even know what you look like. Come with me, let me take you outside."

I held my breath, I wished to never leave him, but if he was with me then the idea of going out was incredibly exciting. He grabbed me and flew up high, out of the tower and into the world that I had only glanced from afar until that day.

He landed on a field, lowering me gently on the ground. As my feet touched the grass, as I breathed in the smell of the plants all around me, I felt stronger and lighter.

The field appeared beautiful to me and I wished I could move freely and see more of it. The grass under my feet moved with my thoughts, carrying me where I wished to go.

I had never felt like that, like I weighed nothing. I could move my legs now, placing my feet softly over the grass, feeling it sustain my body and moving with my every wish. Flowers were blooming as my eyes fell upon them, and I felt inebriated.

When I reached the river I saw my reflection and I understood. My neck was entirely covered with red spirals, that had to be the mark.

The dragon explained to me how the king adopted me to show his subjects that he was a caring ruler while actually he did it to keep me close. He tried many times to get rid of me because I was supposed to take his throne when I grew up. Apparently he always failed because every living creature not driven by greed would stand in his way, until the day He finally came and took me away, to protect me.

I felt grateful and happy. I could finally be free but I would never give him up. I would protect nature with him at my side, I had my lovely guardian dragon, he was my protector in shining scales and I loved him.

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The prompt was :
The prince has slain the dragon but the princess weeps for her friends' lost life

I found this prompt in a book of prompts by Lady_of_Erudite